Category: Resources

A judgement on prorogation: floundering in legal citation

Law Reports

Down the road in London Town this morning, a judgment was handed down by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Whilst the judgment itself has attracted far more attention than many others in recent memory, we imagine that for some of our students, and both academic and professional colleagues (denizens of Durham Law School excepted), some of the many citations that peppered the pronouncement may prove particularly perturbing. But help interpreting these is available…

Continue reading “A judgement on prorogation: floundering in legal citation” →

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Over a decade of television and radio programming at your fingertips

We’re always excited to highlight new additions to our collections, but from a personal perspective this is one I have been keen for us to get since I first arrived at Durham. If you’re:

  • a student wanting free access to over a decade of archived tv and radio content (whether that’s a Panorama documentary you recall watching that would be useful to recap for your current essay, the entire first season of Bake-off, one of the film’s of the “Grandmother of the French New Wave”, Agnès Varda… or the latest edition of Hollyoaks Omnibus);
  • a member of academic teaching staff, looking to expand module reading lists or ensure students have access to a recent news programme, documentary or film for discussion at an upcoming seminar;
  • a researcher who engages with the media, and wants to keep track of when and where your appearances on the news or at a recent Parliamentary Select Committee were broadcast…

… read on.

Continue reading “Over a decade of television and radio programming at your fingertips” →

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“Isn’t that something! Magnificent sight out here.”

Guardian article headline: Apollo 11 moon landing

Fifty years ago today, the Apollo 11 mission saw the first two humans – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin – land on the surface of the moon (whilst Michael Collins, remaining on the command module overhead, momentarily experienced a solitude unparalleled as he disappeared, alone, in orbit round the dark side of the moon and out of contact and sight of every other known living creature).

Most of us here in the University Library were young children or but glints in our parents’ eyes. But we have many primary sources available to Durham staff and students to explore these and other momentous (infamous or obscure) events in our shared history. Snapshots of how they were reported, the views of those who observed or experienced them, the discussion, commentary or argument that followed.

Continue reading ““Isn’t that something! Magnificent sight out here.”” →

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“I am not a number. I am a Free Man*!”

* (Please note – this title is a quote from the 1967 British TV Series, The Prisoner. There are recognised issues of gender bias in citation and authorship across academia – this title was not intended to reflect that (and yes, the author was male). Please consider yourself equally free to be treated as a number rather than a person – whatever your gender identity – but recognise that those numbers may reflect bias in the practice of authors and reviewers) [ed: 17th July 2019]

Who is citing who?

We often (well, sometimes) get asked by students:-

– How do I know who has cited this work? (How do I do this?)

We more frequently get asked a similar question by our academic colleagues:-

– How do I know who has cited MY work? (How do I do this?)

Is BIGGER always BETTER?

Why would you not want to know who has been citing your research? It may just be to massage your ego, or it might offer an opportunity to re-evaluate your own work in the new light shed by others. It could offer an opportunity for a future collaboration, or a conversation starter with a citing author at an upcoming conference. Sometimes it is just nice to have that (often fleeting) sensation of finally having your value recognised by someone. Or often, sadly, being able to show how often you have been cited is the game you are forced to play for that next academic job application or promotion review.

When it comes to that last reason, the assumption is often that “bigger is better”. Whilst this may often be true, there is a lot of nuance to that question.. not least what might be understood to be “big” from one discipline to another. But, casting your eyes back to the title of this post, do you want ‘quality’ to be measured by a number? The answer to that question might be influenced by whether you’re a STEM or humanities scholar… or just whether you’re the person sitting on an interview panel with a long-list of over 500 applications to get through in far too little time. Continue reading ““I am not a number. I am a Free Man*!”” →

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2019 Journal Citation Reports published

Journal Citation Reports

Today sees the publication of the 2019 edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which you can access via Durham University Library’s Web of Science subscription.

The JCRs are published annually, and provide an overview of citation and publication metrics for 11,877 journals across primarily STEM and social sciences, including the most recent Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and Eigenfactor scores.

For more information on publication and citation metrics, why not have a look at our web pages:

 

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“Why, they must be superhuman, ultra-dedicated information-professional behemoths”

Scopus: the world’s most curated, authoritative database of peer-reviewed research literature. According to, well, the folk at Scopus. They also claim that content is curated from more than 5,000 publishers and divided into 27 major subject areas. And it includes:

  • 70,000 institutional profiles
  • 16 million active and historic researcher profiles
  • 70+ million records
  • 4 billion cited references

Big numbers there, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Given that Scopus is just one of the many, many databases available through Durham University Library, you may find yourself thinking:

“How do the Academic Liaison Librarian’s at Durham keep atop of the continual development of existing resources, along with the ever-growing number of new ones being added to Durham’s holdings? Why, they must be superhuman, ultra-dedicated information professional behemoths”

Of course, you’d be right. But in order to give ourselves a helping hand, we also take advantage of whatever opportunities arise to keep us fully-skilled – such as the Scopus Certification Program for Librarians, currently helping to keep the skills of a number of us as sharp a razor. A bibliographic database-shaped razor.

The program pledges to provide a greater insight into research sources, collaboration and metrics. This will allow us to expand our training and query-answering knowledge.

If you want to know more about Scopus, why not have an explore?

https://library.dur.ac.uk/record=b2882122~S1

And if you need any help or support, just get in touch with your Academic Liaison Librarian:

https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/subject/

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